2016 Riyadh embassy siege
The 2016 Riyadh embassy siege occurred on 7 June 2016 when 40+ Islamic State-linked militants led by Khaled al-Asiri assaulted the United States embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The militants used a suicide bomber to crash the gates, and they killed several Afghan guards and security personnel before breaching the compound. The US Marine Corps had a few soldiers on the scene, and they fought their way out of the embassy and towards the al-Mafraq Stadium, where they were to rendezvous with marine reinforcements. Many marines were killed, but Corporal Albright succeeded in directing the ambassador and the embassy staff to safety, and all of the terrorists were killed. This left at least 40 terrorists, around 15 Special Response Regiment personnel, four security personnel, and two marines dead for a total of 61 casualties in the attack. Background ]]The siege targeted the US embassy in Riyadh, headed by ambassador Cahill, known as "the Peacekeeper" for his efforts to build bridges with the Saudi community. The attack was planned by Islamic State-affiliated Saudi militant Khaled al-Asiri, who led a local militant group with loose ties to IS and had carried out several jihadi attacks in Saudi Arabia, including a suicide bombing in a mall in the Northern Borders Province two months earlier. al-Asiri did preliminary scouting around the embassy under the guise of being an al-Jazeera reported, having a news van prepared. He filmed the embassy with a camera to see the schedules of the guards, and he recruited several members of his cell for the attack. Attack Breaching the compound Amidst the usual protests outside of the embassy by angry Saudis, Abdulkarim Barakat waited in a white van as another attacker pretended to fix his broken-down car. Barakat honked and shouted at the driver, causing the Saudi police to move away from the gate to resolve the issue. al-Asiri then signalled Barakat to drive, and the van sped towards the gate. The police fired on the van, and Barakat was hit by a few bullets; however, he was shot just as he reached the gate, and the van's explosives detonated when it crashed. al-Asiri and the attackers opened fire on the guards with Russian assault rifles, engaging in a firefight with Saudi guards; the minigun operator at the guard tower was killed by one of the attackers (Zakariyya Diab) with a sniper rifle. Assault on the embassy The attackers proceeded to enter the courtyard, pushing aside the exploded van and moving. The embassy's security chief Kraus and some other American security personnel fired on the terrorists from the doorway, killing attacker Luwai Majeed, but the fifteen-or-so attackers killed Kraus and two other men, while Corporal Kevin Albright dragged a mortally-wounded marine Noveski into the building, where he died. Ambassador Cahill and the staff took vital documents and headed to incinerate them, and Albright retreated into the embassy, killing attacker Sulaiman Hamdan. Later, Albright came under heavy fire from Muhammad Akram and Raid Pour, but Gunnery Sergeant Gunney Raines arrived with some other marines and killed the two terrorists, helping Albright out. The two squads linked up to move the ambassador, the staff, and the visitor Jamal al-Asiri to a safe room, and a rescue team of marines Major Lincoln assembled at a camp elsewhere in Saudi Arabia to reinforce the marines and end the siege. In addition, the Special Response Regiment of the Saudi Royal Guard sent a platoon to back up the marines. Ambassdor's Residence Ambassador Cahill informed the marines that there was classified information that they needed to retrieve from his residence, namely Khaled al-Asiri's cell phone, which had names, locations, and plans; it could stop the next 9/11 and shut down the al-Asiri network if the Americans were to hold onto the information. A squad of four Marines under Gunnery Sergeant Raines headed to the residence with Olivia Winston, the computer software analyst who knew how to decrypt the phone and add its information to a cloud before destroying it. Raines traded fire from the roof with Aslam Hoda and Abdulhamid Aboud on the ground in front of the embassy, and the Special Response Regiment platoon arrived to assist the marines. The team that headed to the residence found that the safe was broken when the militants tried to open it, and the team at the embassy ran into trouble when militant reinforcements arrived and killed the Royal Guards. Eventually, Olivia managed to break open the safe, and the team left the building as Raines picked off several terrorists. However, he was hit by an RPG round and killed, and ambassador Cahill had Albright take over command. Relocation to al-Mafraq Stadium Albright decided to link up with the ambassador and his group and evacuate the whole of the Americans to al-Mafraq Stadium, just two kilometers away. Olivia Winston burnt money to hide the evidence that ambassador Cahill used bribes to keep stability in the region, as it would discredit the Americans in front of their Middle Eastern allies. The tem then headed to the back of the embass, which was guarded by an RPK and more militants. The two teams met up while attacking the terrorists and their technicals, and they managed to take over the technicals so that they could reach the stadium; however, the marine Stamper was gunned down by Khaled al-Asiri as he held the terrorists back. The Americans left their pickup truck after reaching a dead end and headed into the city itself, where they were chased down by the terrorists. The marines fought the terrorists in the street, with innocent bystanders running away in fear, and they ran into a cheeseburger restaurant called "Freedom Burger" on King's Street in al-Hashimi, where they were pinned down. The African-American marine "Sunshine" was shot in the right side of the face, and Albright put bandages on his wound as the marines continued to fight off the terrorists. They headed into the basement as more militants arrived, and Albright had Jamal al-Asiri bring a propane tank to the bottom of the stairs. Hansen and Lopez were both wounded while fighting off the militants in the hallway down the stairs, but Jamal took up a gun and helped Albright in holding off the terrorists. They confronted Khaled, who said that he wanted to kill every last foreigner that "invaded" Muslim lands and the "rat" that was his brother, but Jamal and Albright both rebuked jihadism. Albright then shot the propane tank at the bottom of the stairs, killing the terrorists. Shortly after, Major Lincoln and his men arrived, and the Americans were evacuated. Aftermath The embassy siege was brought to a close with at least 61 casualties, assuming that all of the 40 militants (there may have been more) were killed. Albright was promoted to Staff Sergeant to replace Raines, and he became the new Gunnery Sergeant in command of the marines at the embassy. The siege showed that the marines could fight hard against impossible odds and still win, and the Islamic State suffered heavy losses, although they still called their dead "martyrs" and applauded the murder of the marines, security personnel, and Saudi royal guards. Attackers Khaled al-Asiri attack.png|Khaled al-Asiri Abdulkarim Barakat.png|Abdulkarim Barakat Yusri Iman.png|Yusri Iman Zakariyya Diab.png|Zakariyya Diab Shukri Qasim.png|Shukri Qasim Khairi Nassif.png|Khairi Nassif Luwai Majeed.png|Luwai Majeed Sabir Sadri.png|Sabir Sadri Fahd Nasr.png|Fahd Nasr Faraj Hussein.png|Faraj Hussein Tajuddin Dallal.png|Tajuddin Dallal Sulaiman Hamdan.png|Sulaiman Hamdan Raid Pour.png|Raid Pour Muhammad Akram.png|Muhammad Akram Abdulhamid Aboud.png|Abdulhamid Aboud Aslam Hoda.png|Aslam Hoda Masoud Rashid.png|Masoud Rashid Abdulmajid Dia.png|Abdulmajid Dia Hisham Aly.png|Hisham Aly Musaddiq Farah.png|Musaddiq Farah Sabah Shakur.png|Sabah Shakur Hasan Mostafa.png|Hasan Mostafa Category:ISIS attacks Category:Terrorist attacks